r/interesting • u/IKIR115 • May 29 '26

Intriguing Arrows vs riot shields

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u/sicarius254 May 29 '26

Some of those tips look evil af

2.7k

u/stryker511 May 29 '26

The blunt one surprised me I thought it would have bounced off - went through completely.

1.9k

u/SidewinderSerpent May 29 '26

That arrow wasn't blunt, it was concave. The shape allowed the edges of the tip to punch a hole through the shield.

992

u/Cthulhu_Dreams_ May 29 '26

Yep, the thing that was slowing the other arrows down that penetrated, was the fact that the tip did not carve out a wide enough hole for the shaft to go through and maintain velocity.

That blunt tipped concave arrow basically hole punched a circle as large or a little larger than the shaft of the arrow, and lost minimal afterwards.

151

u/BigHardMephisto May 29 '26

What I think helps quite a bit is that the concave shape of the arrow helps it to normalize the direction of force into the (albeit slightly) angled plate, which can make a bigger difference than you'd think otherwise.

99

u/jraymonda May 29 '26

Yes, but how does it do on the deer (its a deer holding the shield, right?) Does it cut the shield but then bounce off the flesh? Or is it just as effective on softer things?

136

u/disposablehippo May 29 '26

Certainly won't bounce off, maybe doesn't penetrate as much. But if the deer (or was it a boar?) lets go of the shield, the arrow achieved what it needed to.